On 2 November 2019, the four-year old mare Flying High won the race over 2000m by 20 lengths.
FUGARO (First United German Arabian Racehorse Organisation)
For the past 28 years, two Arabian horse breeding societies have been active in Germany. In 2014, their Boards decided to work not only together but also closely with the German Thoroughbred Racing Society to restart a vital and active racing scene for running accepted performance tests.
FUGARO is the follow-up organisation to the DRAV.
DRAV (Deutsche Renngesellschaft für arabische Vollblüter / German Racing Organisation for Purebred Arabians)
Since 1977 this society of racing enthusiasts organised races all over Germany for decades.
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The first race held by the DRAV on 19 May 1977 in Dortmund was won by Wileika (Diem x Wielka) at the age of three years, bred by the Ismer Stud.
Credit Arabische Pferde, issue 1 of 1979, page 56 / Photo: Schmidt
The breeding of Arabian race horses has changed greatly in the years since this hopeful beginning. As in Poland, racing in Germany was once meant to be a performance test for the breed. No one ever expected Arabian horse breeders to one day ‘separate’ into sections and that the racing fans would start to focus only on French horses that were exclusively selected just for racing!
So, there are no ancestry-links that I could show between the horses I saw at the racetrack in earlier days and those I saw in November last year.
But Wileika is a great-granddaughter of Hadban Enzahi (Nazeer x Kamla) and this is very surprisingly the pedigree link between horses of the first German race and the one of November 2019. As the inbred daughter of Hadban Enzahi, Seja also participated in the race in 1977.
Seja (Hadban Enzahi x Sethnacht by Hadban Enzahi) at the age of three years, bred by Marbach State Stud.
Photo: Betty Finke
Starters in 2019, descendants of Hadban Enzahi (Nazeer x Kamla) born in 1952 at El Zahraa, Egypt:
| 4 crosses > Orage D.A. |
| 2 crosses > Al Fahl D.A. |
| 2 crosses > Madjy |
| 1 cross > Omar P |
My personal 45th anniversary
Every racing day in Germany focuses on the most famous race of the day. So, on 2 November 2019 at the wonderful racetrack at Mülheim/Ruhr – Raffelberg, the focus was on the main race Silbernes Band der Ruhr / The Silver Ribbon of the River Ruhr. And I know exactly what I did the next day 45 years ago. I went for the first time in my life, to the racetrack at Raffelberg, to attend the racing day of The Silver Ribbon of the River Ruhr . I can prove it with a programme from 3 November 1974 that I am afraid might soon fall into dust.
In 2019, ‘FUGARO season’s end’ was the 7th race of a very dark and rainy day. There had been some heavy showers and it also rained during the previous race. So, the ploughed-through grass track was very heavy going. Luckily the rain stopped when the horses aged three years and older with WAHO registration gathered at 1.30pm in front of the saddle-boxes, while the start was scheduled for 2pm.
In front of the saddle-boxes
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1 Al Fahl D.A.
(Af Albahar x Haliyana El Kendal) – stallion, five years and bred in Belgium – 60.5kg
Photo: Betty Finke
2 Flying High
(Dahess x A l’ombre del Sol) – mare, four years and bred in France – 58.5kg
Photo: Betty Finke
3 Viho D.A.
(Majd Al Arab x Cheyenne D.A.) – stallion, seven years and bred in Belgium – 58kg
5 Omar P
(No Risk Al Maury x Zafira D.A.) – stallion, three years and bred in Belgium – 56kg
7 Orage D.A.
(Af Albahar x Onaida D.A.) – mare, six years and bred in Belgium – 55kg
8 Royal Blue Lady
(Damis x Serouda du Breuil) – mare, three years and bred in France – 54kg
Non-starter was number 6 Ramses D.A. (Af Albahar x Haliyana El Kendal).
In the paddock
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4 Madjy
(Dormane x Badjaya) – gelding, 10 years and bred in France – 57.5kg
Photo: Betty Finke
Do you notice the tree in the picture? Just to give you an impression what less than 45 years mean in tree-years, please note my photograph taken on 21 March 1976. It shows the Thoroughbreds Angriff (No. 3), stallion with no influence, and Manzana (No. 4), gelding by Neckar (Ticino x Nixe) out of Mandarine (Obermaat x Prinzess Mira). What you also see, is that the hoof track is marked out only by some fir branches stuck into the ground.
Photos: Betty Finke
Walking in front is Viho D.A. followed by Omar P. These photographs show the same section of the ring as in 1976, but from a straight opposite position.
On the way to the racetrack
Johann Verstrepen, the owner of Dijkhoeve Arabians (D.A.), is the breeder of three of the participating horses of this race and additionally of Omar P’s dam.
The trial gallop
At the starting gate
The start
Photo: Betty Finke
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Racetrack announcer/The course of the race:
“… second half of the backstretch FLYING HIGH is in the lead with three lengths in front of VIHO D.A… AL FAHL D.A. in third position… VIHO D.A. stays close… behind the field ORAGE D.A… FLYING HIGH remains in front with the advantage of two lengths… VIHO D.A… on the outside ROYAL BLUE LADY stays interesting… into the far turn, ROYAL BLUE LADY tries to improve her position… FLYING HIGH is still in front… ROYAL BLUE LADY has gained much ground… on the rail AL FAHL D.A… on the homestretch FLYING HIGH on the rail… then, on the outside VIHO D.A… even farther out, ROYAL BLUE LADY tries to attack… behind her OMAR P can be seen… FLYING HIGH stays in front… FLYING HIGH wins the race… then OMAR P as second…
The finish
Photo: Betty Finke
Further places: – 4th Royal Blue Lady – 5th Madjy – 6th Viho D.A. – 7th Orage D.A.
No crosses to Amer?
YES, Omar P and Madjy don’t have any crosses to the famous and popular sire Amer.
In connection with this article I should mention that nowadays many Arabian race horses represent, mainly by their phenotype and pedigrees, an own group of Arabian horses. This should be recognised by Arabian horse breeders since within this population there are a number of horses whose pedigrees are doubted by personal point of view or can be doubted based on genetical tests.
From my personal point of view type or size are absolutely no criteria for doubting a purebred pedigree. But the line is crossed when doubt becomes fact: genetic testing, which is nowadays accepted in court, can provide proof of the crossing with another breed.
